This article addresses the challenges and importance of integrating discussions on race and social justice into the classroom. Considering recent legislative actions in various states aimed at restricting such discussions, the article presents an empowering framework designed to support educators in facilitating these conversations. This…

U.S. schools have witnessed educational reforms that have shifted science curriculum and pedagogy within classrooms. Yet, all these reforms have failed to reduce the racial and gender gaps in STEM fields. In 2016, New York State implemented the New York State Science Learning Standards (NYSSLS) to address these gaps. Problems remain, however, with…

Drawing from the Sheldon and Manktelow collections at SUNY Oswego's Penfield Library, along with sociological criteria for a profession -- graduate-level training, autonomy, peer evaluation and responsibility to the public -- this article reassesses Oswego State Normal School's impact on nineteenth-century teacher education. Descriptions of Oswego…

During the past two decades there has been a concentrated effort to enact standards-based education reforms at the federal, state, and local levels. Following a grounded theory approach, this article examines the experiences of secondary social studies teachers who have been directly impacted by the incorporation of English Language Arts based…

The pandemic-fueled expansion of online learning will certainly persist beyond the pandemic, and schools must ensure that the transition creates accessible, high-quality options for all students. Most recently, the surge in COVID-19 Omicron variant cases and persistent ambiguity around whether and how to close schools reinforces the fact that we…

Scholarship underscores the experiences of Appalachian students who must confront a social reality that consistently expects less from them because of their circumstances and the narratives surrounding their social context (Collins, 2020; Piene et al., 2020). Traditionally, the Appalachian people have been viewed by educators from a deficit…

Teacher professional learning is often disjointed and not aligned with the curricula teachers use in daily instruction. This lack of preparation has led to fragmented approaches to teaching young students to read, in part because initiatives lose momentum, teachers modify the instruction beyond recognition, and programs are soon eclipsed by newer…

In this chapter, the former and current directors of adult education at the Arab American Association of New York (AAANY) discuss strategies from their shared process of fostering community, student leadership, and empowerment in AAANY's community-based literacy program. Amid the challenges for learners and the program connected to the 2016…

In the United States, almost one-quarter of all youth are children of immigrants and it is projected that by 2040 over a third of all children will be growing up in immigrant households (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 2010). This shift in demographics has the potential to compound the inability that many school districts demonstrate to…

In the last 30 years, the U.S. education reform movement has focused primarily on increasing school choice, accountability linked to standards, and leadership capacity in our schools. In particular, charter schools have tried to incorporate all three elements in their attempt to provide families with better options for their children. But many…

The Phoenix Players Theatre Group was founded by incarcerated theatre artists located in a maximum-security prison with the aim of creating a space where they can be witnessed in order to initiate a process of personal, cultural, and sociopolitical transformation. This article integrates research from trauma theory with theatre and social justice…

In this chapter, two student members of the Student Voice Collaborative (SVC) describe their experiences as "Student Shadows" during the annual Quality Review process, used throughout the New York Department of Education to evaluate how well schools are organized to support student achievement. They chronicle how this experience enhanced…

This multiple case study examines practices of educators in high schools called "odds-beaters". These schools are exemplary in that they consistently achieve better-than-predicted graduation outcomes among economically disadvantaged, African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, and English language learners. Findings from this study revealed…

Over the past decades, U.S. immigration has changed significantly, yet the way we teach about immigration in schools has changed little. The American Immigration Council has developed a two-year program on Long Island, an area experiencing an increase of new arrivals and anti-immigrant sentiment. The program empowers teachers with the knowledge to…

The implementation of the C3 Framework has unfolded unlike any previous standards project. A grassroots movement rather than a top-down mandate, the C3 effort calls on teachers to be at the forefront of social studies reform. In New York State, the C3 Framework provided context and inspiration for the New York Social Studies Toolkit Project.…